Mandarin 90 gal

[mattsilvester]

All,

My DT is 48"x24Xx18" (LxWxH). I'd like to get a mandarin. As I understand the key to keeping these guys is lots of pods. In which case:

1. I guess I should avoid tank mates that will seek out pods and compete. Any in particular to avoid?

2. My dT has about 65lbs LR. BB. Would sand make a big difference? 0.5" - 1.0" of the caribsea sea stuff, or similar?

3. My sump is a decent size, with only a skimmer in it. I am reluctant to grow macro in it (don't want algae growing on equipment). But I could add about 10-20lbs of LR, and also could add some LR rubble.

With all the above, what are my chances of success? I don't have regular access to live food so that is not an option.

Thanks.

 

[DopeCantWin]

For the Algae growing in the sump, use Chaetomorpha. It will provide a safe place for pods to breed and will not grow on any equipment or rocks. You can get it to just tumble at the top of the water. For me it sinks, but it's probably because of how my waterflow works. If you'll have Algae eaters in the tank, it will make a nice snack when it breaks off.

 

[MondoBongo]

1. wrasse, pipefish, are generally best avoided. not all wrasse are created equal. i kept a flasher and a mandy in my 75 until the flasher sadly found a way out of my top and went carpet surfing. they were together for about a year.

2. sand makes a huge difference. it has a considerable amount of surface area, and is an excellent breeding ground for pods. any type of medium grain aragonite would be great. 65 pounds of live rock is a little light, adding more would certainly be helpful.

3. i never grew macro in my sump on my 75. it wasn't sectioned off, so i just added some sponges and a bunch of rock.

i feed heavily. i do not run a low nutrient system, and i feel that this has also been a large contributor to my relative success keeping a mandarin. excess food for the fish means excess food for the pods as well.

given all that in a 90, i would say you have a very good chance of success, contingent on getting a good, healthy mandarin to keep.

if you're not already familiar, make sure you observe them for as long as possible in the fish stores tanks. they should be bright and alert, constantly foraging (pecking at the substrate), brightly colored, no signs of any paralysis (especially in the tail), and not dangerously skinny. ideally you shouldn't see any "sharp" edges or sunken bellies on the fish.

if you need to supplement food, or fatten up a new arrival, freshly hatched baby brine shrimp nauplii run through a Paul B style feeder are an excellent snack.

here is one of the threads he posted it in, works incredibly well:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2170186

 

[mattsilvester]

Thank you both for your replies. Much appreciated.

About the sand - I am always confused about the grain size. What would you consider "medium" grain size. 1-2mm? 2-5mm?

I'll dream up some creative ways to increase breeding grounds for pods

 

[snorvich]

Pod piles, or piles of rock rubble help a lot. Good advice above, six line wrasses are not a good idea and leopard wrasses can also be problematic. Your tank size should be fine.

 

[MondoBongo]

this is the stuff i am using for my new build:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/PearlBeach.html

it is varied in size quite a bit. my current tank uses a finer grain of sand, and it works well, but can tend to blow around in higher current a bit.

this new stuff has a largest grain size about equivalent to an oatmeal flake, but many smaller ones as well.

really any coarse grain aragonite, that is not "sugar sand" should work just fine.

 

[laga77]

One of the best ways of keeping a Mandy is the addition of live worms. Both Black and White worms work great. I prefer the White worms because they live longer in saltwater. I have seen white worms live for up to 18 hours. Plus they wiggle, which really ignites a feeding response in both fish and corals. Cultures can be bought online and are easy to keep.

 

[Genera]

Pod piles

Steve, what's a pod pile?

 

[snorvich]

Steve, what's a pod pile?

It is a pile of live rock rubble that creates a refugium for copepods within a display tank. Very effective at maintaining a copepod population even among copepod eaters. Not a sufficient strategy for tanks of insufficient size, however.

 

[mattsilvester]

All,

Going back to fish selection - and sand;

So if I add say 60lbs or aragamax sand (about 0.5 - 1" depth) then should I avoid sand sifting gobies? Seems they would be counter productive also. That being said I have obseved in the past that watchman gobies tend to stay close to their home so maybe ine of them is ok?

How about dwarf angels? They graze continuously and are omnivorous. Will they be ok, or again best avoided?

My tank is in the early stages, no fish yet. Good, well cured LR. It will be at least a month before I add any fish. Considering the manderin to be the first. Between now and then I add about 4 gallons of LR rubble in the sump, along with the 60lbs of sand. I'm guessing however that without fish (and hence food) that I will not see and explosion of pods or micro fauna?

So perhaps adding a few other fish first will be a good idea.

Lastly - quarantine. I am a big fan of using tank tranfer method which takes 2 weeks and then getting the fish into the DT as soon as possible. So if I get a medium size, fat manderin - will he survive that 2 weeks? I could feed freshly hatched brine shrimp if that would help?